


Stranger Danger

by LadyVader23



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Child Leia Organa, Child Luke Skywalker, Dad Vader, F/M, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Parent Darth Vader, Some angst, Star Wars - Freeform, Suitless Darth Vader, Vader has no idea what he's doing, missing child, parenting is hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:01:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23010670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyVader23/pseuds/LadyVader23
Summary: When Vader is suddenly given custody over the five year old son he didn't know he had, he attempts to get his daughter, Leia to befriend him. But as soon as his back is turned, Luke runs away, hiding in the mall that Vader owns. Vader tries frantically to find his son while Luke enjoys exploring the mall on his own. Shenanigans ensue.
Relationships: Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader
Comments: 28
Kudos: 276
Collections: Chaos Twins vs The Establishment





	Stranger Danger

**Author's Note:**

> This was a extremely vivid dream I had. I needed to get it out. It was supposed to be a crack fic, but I fear I may have treated it more seriously than I meant it to be. Oh well. Enjoy the Dad Vader!

“Welcome home, Luke.” 

Vader led (or rather dragged) the little five year old into the entryway of his home, setting down the one bag the boy had been given on the floor. The boy ( _ his son!)  _ stared wide-eyed at the crystal chandelier and at the living room beyond, clutching his worn stuffed lion like it was his lifeline. When it was clear this wasn’t the home he was used to, his lip began to tremble and he buried his face in the ratty mane. 

Vader’s lips tightened. The boy still had yet to say a single word to him since he’d met him at the hospital. “I know it’s not your aunt and uncle's house. But you will like it. I promise.” 

Luke’s only response was to tighten his grip on the lion. 

Shit. He wasn’t good with kids. He didn’t know how he managed to get Leia to like him, let alone love him...but he’d had  _ her  _ since she was an infant. He hadn’t even known Luke existed until he received a call from the hospital informing him that not only had he been appointed the emergency guardian of his step-brother’s kid, but that the kid was actually  _ his  _ by blood. 

How did this happen? He wondered for the billionth time. He’d found Leia shortly after birth, but it hadn’t occurred to him that Padme had given birth to  _ twins.  _ He never spoke to his step-brother, but even if he had, he didn’t know if he would have put two and two together even then. 

But now Owen and Beru were dead, killed in a car crash. An accident Luke had been in as well, but survived with only a few scratches. So Vader had inherited not only an unknown son, but one that was terrified and confused. 

It didn’t help that Vader was...scarred. Most kids ran away in fright. Luke didn’t, but it certainly hadn’t gotten him to open up, either. 

He needed a way to get him to acclimate quickly. He was a busy man; he owned the supermall his three-story condo was attached to, after all. Even if he could easily work from home until Luke got settled, it probably wouldn’t help the boy if he was in meetings all day. 

He considered the problem for a moment, before deciding on the perfect plan. 

If he was too scared of him, maybe Leia could help ease him in. She was his twin, after all, and didn’t kids make friends with each other easily? 

“Luke. Look at me.” Reluctantly, the boy pulled his face away from the lion (that would need good washing, he immediately decided). “Wait here. I’ve got a surprise for you.” 

Without another word, Vader turned on his heel and went to find Leia and the nanny. 

Leaving Luke alone. 

* * *

_ Stranger danger!  _

Luke kept thinking over and over again. Aunt Beru had warned him that if he wasn’t careful, he could be kidnapped by a stranger, and she’d never see him again. She told him, and now he was driven away from his aunt and uncle to a scary new house by a scary looking man. 

He wanted to scream. That’s what Beru said to do if a stranger took him. But he’d couldn’t, so now here he was, and the scary man was going to get a ‘surprise’ for him. 

He was a stranger. It probably wasn’t a good surprise. It was probably a trick, like the tricks Uncle Owen played on him that resulted in him going to the doctors instead of McDonalds. What would the stranger bring back? A needle to give him a shot? Something to hit him with? A mean monster to eat him? 

He was afraid, and he just wanted his aunt and uncle. 

But now the scary man was gone, and he was alone. He wasn’t brave enough to scream. But then he looked at the front door, reached up and opened it, revealing the driveway, a parking lot, and then another huge building. 

Maybe he could run away and hide in that building. The scary man wouldn’t find him there. 

Luke took one last look at where the stranger had disappeared before turning and bolting out the door, running as fast as his little legs could carry him. 

* * *

“Why couldn’t you bring me home a sister?” Leia pouted as Vader carried her down the stairs. 

“That’s not how it works.” Vader explained on a sigh. 

“Why can’t Miss Jenny meet him? Is he going to have his own nanny?” 

“No, Miss Jenny will nanny him too--” 

“But I don’t wanna share!” 

Maybe not being the only child in the house would be good for Leia, he decided, pausing on the second story landing. “Leia. Listen. Your brother...Luke...he’s scared. He...he didn’t know we existed.” 

“Where’s he been? The store?” Leia frowned. 

“No. He…” He wasn’t about to explain his complicated past to her, and he’d learned long ago not to say anything to her that he didn’t want repeated. “He was with other family. So, can you help me and be his friend?” 

Leia tilted her head, her little curls bouncing around her shoulders. “Fine.”

“That’s my girl.” He turned the corner, heading down the last flight stairs...and froze, staring in horror at the wide open door. 

“Where is he daddy?” Leia asked, looking around. “You said he was here.” 

“I did…” He swallowed, trying not to panic, but the door was wide open and  _ Luke was missing…  _

He ran down the last of the steps and to the door, hoping he’d see him not far from the condo. 

Nothing. Just the parking lot full of cars, and the mall beyond. 

“Fuck.” He breathed, earning him a gasp from his daughter as he set her down. “Go back to Miss Jenny.  _ Now.”  _ Already he was pulling his cell out to make a call to Mr. Piett, his mall manager. 

Leia didn’t need to be told twice, but as she ran back up the stairs she shouted, “Miss Jenny, daddy said a bad word!” 

Piett picked up on the second ring. “The shipment hasn’t arrived yet--” 

“ _ I don’t care about the damn shipment!”  _ He all but roared into the phone. “My  _ son  _ is lost in the mall!” At least he hoped he was, not hit by a car or run off to who knew where, but even  _ then  _ kids were kidnapped from malls all the time--

“I...didn’t know you had a son…?” 

“ _ I didn’t either!”  _ Shit, he had him for  _ fifteen minutes  _ and already he was gone! How was he that bad with children?! “Get all staff on high alert! I want security to sweep the area in and around the mall!” 

“Yes sir...but...ah, what does your son look like?” 

Vader reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course he didn’t have a picture. “He looks like Leia. Except blonde haired and blue eyed. And a boy.” Stupid. That was obvious, but he could hardly think straight. “He’s also holding a ugly stuffed lion.” 

“We can work with that.” Then he paused. “Mr. Vader. We’ll find him.” 

“ _ You had better!”  _ Vader snarled. “Or it’s everyone’s jobs!” 

He couldn’t really fire his entire staff, but it didn’t matter. 

Anything to find and protect Luke. 

* * *

The big building looked like one of those places his aunt sometimes liked to take him. When she did, they spent hours there. If he was good, she’d get him ice cream. But she wasn’t there, and there were a lot of people walking around that he didn’t know. 

_ More strangers.  _

He clutched Biggs the lion closer, hurrying to get out of the way of the taller strangers. They didn’t look at him. They were busy talking to each other, or on the phone, and most of them carried big paper bags that were almost as big as him. Multiple times they bumped him or almost stepped on his toes. 

He quickly found a almost empty store to hide in. 

It wasn’t one of those stores his aunt liked. There weren’t any boring clothes in it. It had lots of tools, like the ones his uncle liked. It instantly relaxed him, and he wandered through the isles, smelling the familiar scent of rubber and metal. 

When he stopped to look at a big huge barbecue like the one his uncle had, but  _ way bigger,  _ there was a panicked yelp somewhere in the store. Luke looked over just in time to watch a stranger run by the other end of the isle. He frowned, briefly wondering if he was running to the bathroom, then refocused on the grill. 

“I think only five people in the world would want one that big,” he told Biggs. “That would like...like...make hot dogs for a million people! You’d need lots of friends to invite over.” 

* * *

“He definitely entered the mall, sir. Security caught him going into the mall, but we lost him in the crowd.” 

If Vader wasn’t standing in front of Piett and Veers (head of security), he might have started banging his head on the wall. 

_ Why?  _ Why hadn’t he locked the damn door?! 

“Get security in place at all exits.  _ No one  _ is to leave without being asked if they’ve seen him. If they have a kid that looks like him, ask for proof of identification.  _ Find my son!”  _

“It’s already done, sir. We’ll find him.” Veers tried to sound calming, but it only made Vader’s panic turn to fury. 

“Then do it!” 

Veers gulped, glanced at Piett, then scurried off. 

“We find missing children daily, sir.” Piett calmly reminded him. “We will find your son.” 

He knew that. And yet it was different when it was  _ his  _ kid. The boy he hadn’t even known he’d had when he’d woken up that morning. 

“Do you know what he likes? Maybe he’ll be drawn there…” 

“I don’t know.” What kind of father was he? All he knew was that Luke liked his lion. 

“What does Leia like? Maybe they have similar tastes.” 

It was a good point, though he wouldn’t ever admit it. “The toy store.” 

“I’ll ask the staff there to keep an eye out.” 

When Piett turned and left his office, Vader sat back down in his chair and buried his face in his hands. 

What would Padme say if she could see him now? Maybe Kenobi had been right to steal his--

_ No.  _

He was a good father. Unconventional, but he  _ was.  _ Leia’s love for him proved it. 

He’d find Luke, and he’d try again. 

He wasn’t going to give up. 

* * *

The smell of food had Luke riding the moving stairs up to the second floor, his tummy rumbling. When he got off, there were a bunch of restaurants huddled around a big open area. Lots of people sat at tables with their friends and families, eating food. Some of it looked icky, like the green leaf food, but others looked yummy like hamburgers. 

He walked over to the food places...then stopped before he got in line. He didn’t have any money, or his aunt to get him food. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. Sometimes Aunt Beru put money in there for him to give to the school lunch lady, but she hadn’t done that today. He only had lint and an old sucker in there. 

But his tummy rumbled again, and it sort of hurt. He hadn’t eaten since that morning, since before…

His gaze caught a tray of food left out on the table. 

No one was around, and it looked like some of the food was eaten, but there were a bunch of fries just sitting there. 

He liked fries. 

He approached, reached up and grabbed the box...and paused. 

Aunt Beru said stealing was bad. He needed to pay for the fries, or trade. 

All he had was the old sucker.

“I hope they like cherry.” Luke told Biggs as he pulled the sucker out and put it on the tray. Then, he began walking away, stuffing fries into his mouth as he did so. 

He was still wandering around, eating fries that had gone cold, when he heard his name over the speaker. 

“....Be on the lookout for a blonde boy named Luke Skywalker…”

He stopped, freezing as he stared up at the ceiling where the voice was coming from. 

_ They were mad he stole fries!  _

His chest began to heave and his legs shook. They were going to call the police, and he was going to get arrested! Maybe he should have traded for a grape sucker…

He dropped the fries and took off running. 

* * *

“Mr. Vader, we spotted him!” Veers came running into his office. 

Vader was on his feet in an instant, ignoring whatever Piett was trying to tell him. “Where?!” 

“He’s headed for Macy’s. We sent security…” 

Vader was already moving. 

* * *

“Maybe we can live in the clothes, Biggs.” Luke frowned at the racks and racks of clothes stretching as far as he could see. He sometimes played inside of the clothes while his aunt shopped. She always got mad when she caught him, but it still seemed like a great hiding place. 

Except that he’d have to live in clothes. He made a face. That sounded boring. 

But where else was he going to hide from the police? 

He began heading that way...and stopped when a Christmas tree caught his eye. 

He frowned, tilting his head. It was taller than the one at his house, but Aunt Beru was good at decorating the tree. She even let him help. 

Maybe she could help whoever decorated  _ this  _ tree. 

Forgetting about hiding, he walked up to the stranger behind the desk that was next to the ugly tree. “Excuse me?” 

The man didn’t look at him. He was talking to another adult who was handing him clothes. 

“ _ Excuse me?!”  _

The man looked down, opening his mouth, then froze, staring at him. “L-Luke?” He stammered. 

Maybe he wasn’t a stranger, after all. He knew his name. 

He pointed at the tree. “Your tree is ugly.” 

He blinked down at him, then looked at the other woman. “I’m...sorry, you’ll have to excuse me…” then he leaned down to be at Luke’s level. He smiled, and despite his ugly tree, Luke decided he seemed nice. Just bad at tree decorating. “Why do you think the tree is ugly?” 

Pleased that the man was going to listen to him, Luke began pointing at all the spots that didn’t have ornaments or ribbon. “My aunt says you can’t miss spots on the tree, or it’ll be naked.” He told him, quite seriously. The man was nodding, even as he pressed a button on his black box thing. “She could help you fix it, you know...though she’d need to buy new ornaments. We used all of ours on our tree.” 

“It’s a good thing we sell those here.” 

Luke brightened. “Do you have race car ones?” 

“Maybe.” 

His expression fell. “Maybe means no.” 

“Maybe means maybe--” 

“ _ Luke!”  _

Luke jumped at the angry, deep voice and whirled around, wide eyed, and saw the scary man coming right for him. He squeaked. “Gotta go!” 

“ _ Grab him!”  _

The man, who Luke was now starting to think didn’t actually know him, grabbed his wrist firmly, but not so much that it hurt. Luke pulled, trying to escape, screaming as the scary man approached. 

When the Scary Man knelt down in front of him, the other man let his wrist go. Luke tried to run, but the Scary Man’s arms wrapped around him, picking him up. 

“ _ No!”  _ Luke shrieked. “Stranger danger!” 

“No, I am your  _ father--ouch,  _ stop kicking me!” 

“Aunt Beru says not to talk to strangers!” 

“You were just talking to a stranger!” 

“His tree is ugly!” 

“I--” the man broke off, taking another look at the tree, then the man who’d tricked him. “James, that tree  _ is  _ ugly. Fix it.” 

James cleared his throat. “Right away, sir.” 

Then, before Luke could try to escape again, the Scary Man turned and carried Luke away. As he did so, Luke peered over the man’s shoulder, reached out to James and screamed, “ _ Save me!” _

* * *

Vader was fairly certain that had security not been walking with him back to his office, the entire mall might have called the cops on him for kidnapping his own child. 

Luke screamed the  _ entire  _ way back. Vader tried not to notice all the stares and whispers as they passed, and he breathed a sigh of relief when they entered his office, leaving security and everyone else outside. 

This time, when he set Luke down, he made sure to  _ lock  _ the door. 

Then he faced his newfound son who clutched that stupid lion and cowered away from him like he was some monster. 

It wouldn’t be the first time, but it still hurt that it was coming from his son. He tried to remember that it wasn’t personal: the boy had, after all, been through a traumatic accident and didn’t know who he was. 

Maybe that’s where he needed to start. 

With a sigh, he slowly knelt down in front of him. The boy watched him warily, as if any wrong move and he’d be screaming again. 

“Do you go to school, Luke?” 

He frowned, his eyes narrowing and he hugged his animal closer. “Yeah.” 

“Do the other kids have aunts and uncles?” 

He shook his head. “No.” 

“What do they have?” 

“Mommies and daddies.” 

Vader nodded. “Do you understand they’re not like aunts and uncles?” 

He hesitated. “Yeah. But I don’t have a mommy and a daddy.” 

Now Vader paused, pushing back the old pain of losing his beloved wife. “No. You don’t have a mommy. But you do have a daddy.” 

Finally, Luke looked interested. “Who?”

Vader pointed to himself. “I’m your dad.” 

Luke stared at him for a while, as if deciding to trust him. “What about Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen?” 

He didn’t know how to explain death to a child. Leia hadn’t even started seriously asking about her mother yet, so he hadn’t had time to practice. What was he supposed to say to a child who’d just gone through something so traumatic and he didn’t even understand what it was yet? “They’re gone. They’ve...gone somewhere they can’t come back from.” 

“Where?” Then before Vader could answer, he whispered seriously, “Canada?” 

“...What?” 

“My friend Biggs moved away to Canada. I can’t see him anymore. I named my lion after him. See?” Luke held up the ugly lion. 

“Yes...I see. But no, your aunt and uncle went somewhere else. Somewhere no one can visit.” 

“Oh.” Luke frowned. To Vader’s horror, tears began to well up in his eyes. “I didn’t get to say bye.” 

Shit. He was terrible with tears. But as Luke sniffled and wiped his tears away with his lion (seriously, it was going in the wash as soon as they got home), Vader carefully scooped him up into his arms and held him. 

They stayed that way for a long while. 

Then, “You’re not mad I stole fries?” 

He had a feeling he was in over his head with this child. 

“No, I own the food court. But I am upset you ran away. Do you have any idea how scared I was for you?” 

“You were scared?” Luke looked up into his face. Vader was pleased to see he didn’t flinch away from his scars. 

“Yes. Very. Don’t leave me like that again. Do you understand?” 

Luke nodded. 

“Very good.” Vader stood, still holding him in his arms. “Now. How about the surprise I was trying to give you before you ran away?” 

He gave him a suspicious look. “Is it a monster?” 

He couldn’t help it. He laughed, something he rarely did. “Not exactly.” 


End file.
